Archaeology around

The Chess Valley Archaeological and Historical Society (CVAHS) 
 
begins the new year with a talk by Professor Keith Branigan, BA, PhD, FSA
 on excavations on Crete. Professor Branigan has a long-standing interest in Aegean archaeology, and has published numerous articles and books on his research in this area. His work includes a paper on the Minoan Finger-Print Project, and a book intriguingly called Dancing with Death. He is better known locally for his involvement in the archaeology of the Chilterns. Indeed, he was influential in the CVAHS’s first practical work, the excavation of the Roman villa at Latimer. John Gover said, “Keith Branigan is a local lad who helped set up the CVAHS in the 1960s when he excavated Latimer villa. He is now retired.” It will be at The White Hill Centre, White Hill, Chesham on Friday 16 January at 8pm. Members pay £1 and visitors £2.
Back here in Chesham last November, CVAHS carried out a preliminary investigation of a burnt mound site on the river Chess. It was on the Latimer estate land between the Latimer business site and Chesham Bois Mill. Burnt mounds are common in Ireland and Scotland but not in Britain. Most are associated with a good stream or river water supply, hearths and a large trough. The troughs that are thought to have held water, are sometimes clay or wood-lined. Radiocarbon dates for these mounds vary from the late Neolithic to the Iron Age, but most are between 2000 - 800BC during the Bronze Age. The mound is made of heat shattered flints which are thought to be the remains of stones heated in fires and subsequently used to heat the water in the trough. There are various theories about why this was done - possibly cooking, bathing, dyeing or leather treatment - but no general agreement.
The CVAHS test excavation spanned four days (contending with some wet and windy weather) when a section was made a through the mound uncovering the underlying surface of river deposits. Pieces of crude pottery and some fragments of charcoal were also uncovered. The pottery fragments have been examined by a specialist and identified as late Bronze Age (1,200-800BC) jar fragments tempered with flint. One of the pieces appears to have slight finger impressions in the surface, which is very common in Bronze Age pots. No trace of a hearth or trough was found during this initial excavation, but CVAHS hopes to return in the future for a more comprehensive investigation.